Possible Duplicate:
Non capturing group?
From python re module document, i see:
(?:...) Non-grouping version of regular parentheses.
and
(...) Matches the RE inside the parentheses.
The contents can be retrieved or matched later in the string.
What’s differece?
shortly:
Non-grouping means it will not be matched into a group. that is, you cannot reference it by \1 for example.